Home/Road Disparity 2014

In this week's quick look at the numbers inside the sport, it's time for the annual dissection of everyone's favorite topic, home and road scoring.

Below is a comparison of the difference between the top 36 teams' averages at home and averages on the road so far this season. Teams at the top of the list have received the biggest boost from competing at home (with the first couple teams averaging nearly 1.500 greater at home than on the road), and teams at the bottom of the list are scoring better on the road than at home. The disparity list is followed by a ranking of the top 36 teams by home average and by road average for reference.

This is not meant to be exclusively a look at judging or inflated home scoring because many factors contribute to a team's performing better at home, of which home scoring is one, but just one. Regardless of the reason for the scores, there are many teams that tend to score significantly better at home, and in general, the bigger the disparity between the home and road scores, the more questions we should have about realistic performance level come the postseason. What scores are you going to get when you have to travel away for Regionals?

It's not always decisive that a team with a big scoring disparity will get knocked down a peg in the postseason when competing on the road, and Florida is a good example of that. Last season, the Gators followed a similar path to this season, with big home scores and normal road scores for much of the year, but by SECs and Championships, they were getting the same big scores on the road as well, ultimately resulting in a title. Plus, when you're getting a 198.4 at home, you can afford to score quite a bit lower on the road and still be successful.

A couple comments:
-Rarely, one really bad score will have a disproportionate influence, and that is the case with Kentucky's road 190, which makes it look like they have a much bigger difference between home and road than they do otherwise.
-Also, note that the teams with the biggest differences aren't necessarily the top teams. We tend to hear a lot of complaints about only the top teams receiving a big home scoring boost, but in general, the top teams have pretty reasonable home/road splits.

Largest Home/Road Scoring Disparity - 2014
1. West Virginia +1.663
2. Penn State +1.423
3. Arizona +1.358
4. Kentucky +1.112
5. Washington +1.031
6. BYU +0.984
7. Oregon State +0.948
8. California +0.888
9. UC Davis +0.874
10. Florida +0.819
11. Georgia +0.771
12. Michigan +0.713
13. NC State +0.655
14. Alabama +0.494
15. Illinois +0.480
16. Utah +0.468
17. Arkansas +0.456
18. San Jose State +0.446
19. Utah State +0.334
20. Kent State +0.333
21. Stanford +0.315
22. Southern Utah +0.303
23. Iowa +0.235
24. Boise State +0.232
25. Missouri +0.179
26. LSU +0.069
27. UCLA +0.063
28. Auburn +0.031
29. Denver +0.008
30. Nebraska 0.000
31. Ohio State -0.075
32. Arizona State -0.105
33. Minnesota -0.150
34. Oklahoma -0.306
35. Rutgers -0.433
36. Central Michigan -0.698



Home Average
1. Florida 197.894
2. LSU 197.519
3. Georgia 197.381
4. Alabama 197.363
5. Utah 197.260
6. Oklahoma 197.238
7. Michigan 197.108
8. UCLA 196.719
9. Oregon State 196.706
10. Nebraska 196.644
11. Arizona 196.558
12. Stanford 196.500
13. Arkansas 196.419
14. Penn State 196.363
15. Illinois 196.250
16. Boise State 196.088
17. Cal 196.083
18. Auburn 196.075
19. Minnesota 196.015
20. Denver 195.683
21. Kentucky 195.575
22. BYU 195.567
23. Washington 195.425
24. West Virginia 195.388
25. Arizona State 195.370
26. NC State 195.305
27. Ohio State 195.263
28. San Jose State 195.250
29. Kent State 195.183
30. Central Michigan 195.183
31. Southern Utah 195.143
32. UC Davis 194.769
33. Missouri 194.569
34. Utah State 194.317
35. Rutgers 194.225
36. Iowa 193.775

Road Average
1. Oklahoma 197.544
2. LSU 197.450
3. Florida 197.075
4. Alabama 196.869
5. Utah 196.792
6. UCLA 196.656
7. Nebraska 196.644
8. Georgia 196.610
9. Michigan 196.395
10. Stanford 196.185
11. Minnesota 196.165
12. Auburn 196.044
13. Arkansas 195.963
14. Central Michigan 195.881
15. Boise State 195.856
16. Illinois 195.770
17. Oregon State 195.758
18. Denver 196.675
19. Arizona State 195.475
20. Ohio State 195.338
21. Arizona 195.200
22. California 195.195
23. Penn State 194.940
24. Kent State 194.850
25. Southern Utah 194.840
26. San Jose State 194.804
27. Rutgers 194.658
28. NC State 194.650
29. BYU 194.583
30. Kentucky 194.463
31. Washington 194.394
32. Missouri 194.390
33. Utah State 193.983
34. UC Davis 193.895
35. West Virginia 193.725
36. Iowa 193.540